Tag Archives: Metroplex

local news, media news

Gadflies can do good

My freelance gig has allowed me to get better acquainted with communities throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth region, which follows the form I’ve used for decades … meaning that I learn about new places when I am asked to cover them.

I recently began a gig covering the Sachse City Council in a nice city that straddles the Collin-Dallas County line. They have a seven-member council, a competent city staff and lots of people who attend the council meetings on most occasions. They also have what can be referred to as the resident gadfly, a fellow who I understand attends almost every council meeting and brings his version of what’s wrong with the city to everyone’s attention.

This fellow, though, did something I found quite refreshing. He ran for mayor and lost to the incumbent in an election that occurred at the start of the month. He ended up polling around 40% of the vote in a two-man contest. I don’t know about you, but I consider that a fairly strong showing for a fellow who, as I understand it, doesn’t usually offer much constructive analysis when he bellows before the council in the public comment portion of the meetings.

I have witnessed my share of gadflies during my nearly 37 years as a journalist covering issues for daily newspapers in Texas and Oregon. Almost all of them are content to merely bitch about government, but then decline to step into the arena when given the chance. This guy took his shot at it. He fell short.

One such gadfly in Amarillo once was elected to a seat on a county commissioners court. He raised a little bit of hell with the county, then stepped away. He also continued to gripe about alleged mistreatment by City Hall, but has not yet offered himself as a candidate for the city council.

I have no way to know where my newest gadfly acquaintance will take his camaign for civic improvement. Maybe he’ll make another run for political office. He might just be content to bitch out loud from the gallery at City Council meetings.

I do intend to listen carefully to what he has to say and along the way learn a little more about a community I will be serving. Even gadflies can teach me something.

local news

Any regrets on this choice?

This question has come to me more than once over the many years of my life in Texas.

It goes something like this: Do you regret moving from Oregon to Texas, given the strange political climate that has overtaken the Texas political leadership?

My answer: Not one bit. Not for a single moment.

My wife and I forged a fabulous life in Texas, living in three distinct communities. We moved to the Golden Triangle in 1984 with our two young sons. We then relocated in 1995 across this vast state to the Texas Panhandle after our boys had left home to attend college. Then came the final move to the Metroplex to be near our granddaughter, who came along in March 2013.

We came to Texas to move my career forward. We succeeded. It was a bit of a leap of faith, given that I had lived virtually my entire life in Portland, except for two years I spent in the Army. Kathy Anne had spent the bulk of her life there, too.

My career enabled me to have a ringside seat to watch the Texas political climate change. My craft as an opinion writer and editor for two mid-sized — but solid — daily newspapers gave me an up-close look.

Now, to be sure I need to state that politics hasn’t swallowed me whole. I worked hard at my job at the Beaumont Enterprise and the Amarillo-Globe News. When I went home to my bride, I left the travails of the day behind.

I don’t object to the questions about the decision my wife and I made together to uproot ourselves from what we knew in Oregon to what we would discover in Texas. It’s understandable that some might wonder if I question the wisdom of that decision.

All told, our life in Texas has given us a great ride. Yes, I am still struggling to find my way along the rest of the journey alone, as my bride is now gone. I learned long ago that I am an adaptable creature who isn’t hidebound by old habits.

Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, once said “There’s more to life than politics.” He was speaking to me at the time … and I nodded in agreement.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Reconnecting is so rewarding

We returned to a place we called home for more than two decades and — if you’ll pardon the cliche — had the time of our lives reconnecting with some dear friends we continue to miss.

Our visit to Amarillo’s primary mission was to wish our son a happy birthday. We were able to do so. But along the way, as he was working during the day, we caught up with a man who helped pastor us on our faith journey and then visited with a dear friend of my bride and her husband.

Oh, and then — at dinner — we reconnected with another good friend who happens to have become friends with our son.

Not bad … you know?

To be clear, we have many more friends in the Amarillo we were unable to see. Our time back was too brief to visit everyone we know and love. We had to scurry back to our home in Princeton, where treatment for my bride’s medical challenge awaits.

That is what we have done.

This quick-hit trip back to the High Plains, though, will be one for the books.

My wife and her dear friend had lost contact in recent times. They hugged and reminisced about the old days; my wife got her pal caught up on her current medical challenge. As we have heard throughout this trying episode, my bride has found her way onto many prayer lists.

Our pastor friend has been in his current job for 33 years. He is good at what he does, which is that he serves as “outreach” pastor at the church we attended in downtown Amarillo during the time we lived there. He, too, has become a dear friend over that time and we were able to catch up with his bustling family’s activities.

The doctor who insisted that my wife make this trip — even if it would interfere with her cancer treatment — appears to have been spot on … that she would get as much out of this journey from the Metroplex to the High Plains as any treatment she would receive.

He is correct. The reconnection had a restorative value that I will be hard-pressed to define.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

environmental news, national news

That wasn’t much fun

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

We moved from what I have called The Texas Tundra to what I thought was something of a Banana Belt.

Silly me.

Rolling blackouts? Never experienced ’em in the Panhandle in our 23 years living there. I am sure some folks have experienced the joy of going without power for, oh, an hour or two to save energy.

However, the blackout from which we have just emerged wasn’t the “rolling” kind. It turns out that the power grid that serves the state of Texas isn’t equipped to handle zero-degree temperatures with extended regions of the vast state enduring wind chills in the neighborhood of minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

We don’t have water just yet. The power went out at the Princeton water treatment plant, too. I have been advised by a neighbor in the know that the water will be flowing “in a few hours.”

I realize this might be a once-in-a-lifetime event for a lot of us. The wind chill factors have been punishing to say the least.

Our power went out late Sunday. It came back on for a time in wee hours Monday, then we went dark again. We awoke Monday to no electricity, but we had water. The temperature was about 15 degrees and heading south in a hurry.

We turned in early Monday night because the house was dark, we couldn’t read. So we figured, “What the hey?” We woke up this morning still with no lights.

Oh, and the temperature registered zero … degrees. 

The water went out during the night. We got up once or twice, turned on the faucets to let it drip. It did for a time. Then it stopped.

We hope we have powered through this crisis. It’s still early. The power came on and we did what we were advised to do: We unplugged all the unnecessary appliances, such as the toaster, blender, can opener, digital clock, the reclining living room couch.

Pray for us the rest of the way, will ya?

Meanwhile, I need to do a little research to determine whether our city fathers and mothers did all they could do to prepare for this event.

local news

Winter blast is coming

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

You have read blog posts from me over the years about the retirement journey on which my wife and I have embarked.

Well, this weekend that journey is going to provide us with a blast from the past. You see, we moved to the Metroplex a couple of years ago from the Texas Panhandle hoping — among many things — to escape the vicious winter weather that occasionally clobbers the High Plains region of Texas.

They’re telling us we’re going to get a good bit of snow. It will accumulate. The temperature is going to drop from an already frigid 20-something degrees to something a bit below — gulp! — zero degrees Fahrenheit.

I gotta tell ya, I didn’t count on this.

It’s not that we expected to move to the tropics when we relocated from southwest Amarillo, Texas, to Princeton, just a bit northeast of Dallas and, more to the point, only a handful of miles from our granddaughter in Allen.

It’s been said of the Panhandle that one could experience all four seasons in a single day. It’s true! We experienced it a time or two during our 23 years up yonder and, boy howdy, it got really cold.

I will give props to Panhandle motorists on one point. They know how to drive in the snow, in the wind. That’s not quite the case in the Metroplex, or so I have been told.

We’re just going to lie low for a few days waiting for the nasty weather to blow on by.

Our retirement journey has been a joy for both of us, even in this pandemic era through which we all are living. Now we have to cope with Mother Nature’s winter wrath.

Life is good … eh?

local news

Horror on the freeway

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

We now live in an era that pays tribute to first responders.

With that, I want to offer a brief salute to the men and women who got a horrifying call Thursday morning: There was a multiple-vehicle pile-up on Interstate 35W in Fort Worth.

They found unimaginable carnage on the highway.

The last I have heard, six people died in the crash. Many more were injured. Some of the motorists suffer life-threatening injuries. News media reports told us chilling stories of responders arriving at the scene and then hearing the anguished cries coming from survivors of the wreckage.

They were screaming for help. They were crying out for their very lives. The videos we witnessed on the news are horrifying in the extreme. Semi trucks plowed into other vehicles; some cars were smashed to smithereens, unrecognizable as vehicles designed to carry human beings presumably safely to and from their homes.

Calls went out for medical, firefighters and police personnel to answer the call. One agency called for every person available.

I should point out that they answered the emergency calls in hideous weather conditions. The highway was covered in that dreaded “black ice.” Take my word for it, your vehicle has virtually no control over such a thing; I have been swept away on a black-ice roadway and it ain’t fun.

So, I want to offer not only a word of deep sympathy to those across the Metroplex who lost loved ones in the horrible event, but a salute to the first responders who reminded us once again why we should cherish the work these gallant folks do on our behalf … to protect and to serve us.

local news, national news

When will GOP pols abandon Trump?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

First, I must acknowledge the obvious, which is that I am far from the political action, as I am sitting in the peanut gallery with a lot of other Americans.

You know that already. My full-time journalism career ended more than eight years ago. However, I have remained friends with many politicians and political observers in Texas.

Which brings me to this point: I am wondering when the Texas Republican Party political apparatus ever is going to turn its back on Donald Trump.

The president appears headed to defeat. I won’t say it’s done deal. It is looking that way.

I am acquainted with a number of GOP pols in the Texas Panhandle, where my wife and I lived for 23 years before gravitating to the Metroplex. Truth be told, I consider a number of those pols to be friends. One of them, a fellow I have known for more than 25 years, has told me privately that Trump must be defeated, that he has been a disaster as president.

He hasn’t said a word publicly, at least nothing that I have heard.

Trump has built a cult of personality across the land. The GOP no longer is a party of principle. It is a party that centers on an individual who, ironically, had zero political cred prior to his become a presidential candidate in 2015. Trump had no public service on his record. He had never sought any public office prior to seeking the Big One.

Indeed, the Republican Party is strong in the Texas Panhandle. So I keep wondering why the GOP political hierarchy continues to stand with Trump. It might be that the Trump “base” that comprise such a large portion of the Republican voting public has threatened reprisal against any pol who dares to speak out against their guy.

I keep reading reports about Capitol Hill Republicans beginning to put distance between themselves and the president. Why? Because Trump has few personal friendships, or longstanding political alliances with members of the GOP caucus in Congress. Still, they remain quiet.

It’s a puzzle to me. Yes, I am far these days from the hustle and the tussle of politics. I do retain a keen interest in it all.

Eight days from Election Day gives these pols some time to collect themselves, muster up some courage and tell us publicly what they likely are thinking in private … which is that Donald Trump is a loser.

environmental news, local news

Ready for the best season of the year

(Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

You hear it on occasion: This is my favorite time of the year. My favorite season of the year. Most folks I know keep saying it’s the autumn.

Why? They’ve been through a grueling, boiling-hot summer. The cooler temperatures are a welcome respite from the heat.

That’s not for me. My favorite time of the year is about to arrive. I love the spring. In Texas, spring produces an unusual and often unpredictable series of events.

We have spent 36 winters in Texas. We came initially to the Golden Triangle on the Gulf Coast. Winter in Southeast Texas occasionally was, well, rather un-winterlike. We spent our first Christmas in Beaumont — in 1984 — lounging around in shorts and t-shirts.

Nearly 11 years later we gravitated to the opposite end of the state, settling for 23 years in the Panhandle. The winter there was, shall I say, more like winter in most regions of the world. It got cold … damn cold at times! We had winters with heavy blankets of snow. We also had one hideously dry winter that didn’t produce a single drop of precipitation.

We have moved to the Metroplex. This is our second winter here. It’s been a bit chilly, although not as cold as it often gets up yonder on the Caprock.

Spring is about to arrive. The grass will snap out of its dormancy. The leaves will produce buds. It’s a time of renewal. A time of rebirth. A time that will give way to the fruits and flowers of the season.

Spring in the Panhandle occasionally produces some explosive weather. The wind howls. The storm clouds swirl. It rains hard, man. It would hail on us.

The Metroplex occasionally produces that kind of frightening weather. However, I look forward yet again to the time of year when we spring forward and emerge from our winter doldrum.

It’s my favorite time.

local news

Happy Trails, Part 175: Adaptability accentuated

The longer we live as retired folks, the more I realize just how adaptable I am.

I’ve told you already about how I discovered my adaptability gene when we moved in early 1984 from the community where I was born, was reared, where I came of age, where I got married and where my sons came into this world. We moved from Portland, Ore., to the Golden Triangle of Texas. Talk about culture shock, not to mention humidity shock!

We settled in just fine there.

Then we relocated to Amarillo a mere 11 years later. Once again, we settled in. We sank our roots deeply into the Caprock soil.

Then retirement arrived, albeit a bit unexpectedly. I learned quickly to welcome it. I discovered almost immediately that separation anxiety from work is greatly overrated.

We love telling people that “we’re retired.” We have learned that weekends no longer exist, that every day is a proverbial Saturday.

My wife and I both worked hard at our jobs for many years. We effectively retired the same year.

After living in the Panhandle for more than two decades, we relocated to the Metroplex. Adaptability anyone? We’ve got it in spades, man! We sold our house, we moved into our fifth wheel RV, lived in the “house on wheels” for a few months, then headed down the road, where we found our forever home in Collin County.

I mention all of this because the longer we live here, the longer we go about our days as retired folks, the more comfortable we both feel with this life we have embraced tightly.

At this point in our journey through life, I suspect strongly that our adaptability will start to exhibit some limitation. Neither of us, for example, is going back to work full time.

However, as we look back on our lengthy and fun-filled journey — and speaking only for myself — I am amazed at the adaptable nature I have been able to show … much to my pleasant surprise!

environmental news

Confession of a weather wimp

I am about to admit something I have resisted admitting.

I am a weather wimp. There. I said it out loud.

The realization came to me this morning while standing next to the fuel pump where I was putting diesel into my big ol’ pickup. The weather is chilly. It is damp. It is dank and dark. Even in Princeton, Texas, where we thought we would enjoy a more temperate climate longer into the autumn.

Oh, no! My teeth were clattering. I kept my hands buried deeply into my pockets. I couldn’t wait for the fuel pump to shut off so I could get the heck outta there, back into the truck and then back to the house.

Maybe it’s a function of age. Maybe I am just getting impatient as I wind my way toward the finish line.

We went through a long, hot summer. I longed for cooler days and nights. I lusted for a bit of rain.

Then, boom! It arrived. With something of a vengeance!

I am not going to complain too loudly about the weather. I know there ain’t a thing I can do about it. The weather is so far out of humankind’s control it’s not even worth the gripes we lay on it. And by all means, I know that many places on Earth have much more severe weather than we get in the Metroplex.

I merely am acknowledging what I’ve known to be true.

I am a weather wimp who is going to start wishing any day now for warmer temperatures … and it’s not even winter yet!

Please forgive me.